The race has begun to find a private buyer for Tata Steel UK after Britain’s biggest steel manufacturer was put up for sale by its Indian parent company late on Tuesday night.

为塔塔钢铁英国公司(Tata Steel UK)寻找私营部门买家的行动已经启动。此前在本周二晚，这家英国最大的钢企被其印度母公司挂牌出售。

The future of about 15,000 workers is up in the air after the announcement, which prompted warnings about the potential devastation of the steel industry.

挂牌出售的决定宣布后，约1.5万名工人的前途被打上了问号，这促使一些人警告称，英国钢铁业可能会陷入崩溃。

The British government signalled it would if necessary intervene to protect the national economic interest amid concerns it only has weeks — rather than months — to find a buyer.

英国政府表示，若有必要将出手干预，以保护国家经济利益。人们担心，英国政府只有几周时间——而不是几个月时间——找到接手的买家。

“We remain committed to working with Tata and the unions on a long-term sustainable future for British steelmaking,” said the London government and the Welsh assembly in a joint statement.

伦敦政府和威尔士议会在一份联合声明中表示：“我们仍致力于与塔塔(Tata)及工会合作，为英国钢铁制造业谋求长期的可持续的未来。

“Both the UK and Welsh governments are working tirelessly to look at all viable options to keep a strong British steel industry at the heart of our manufacturing base.”

“英国政府和威尔士政府都在不知疲倦地展开工作，考察所有可行选项，以确保强大的英国钢铁业在我们制造业基础的核心占据一席之地。”

Officials have denied that they could “nationalise” or even “part-nationalise” the business — language redolent of 1970s interventionism — but the government is open to a significant intervention to try to save the company.

英国官员否认他们可能会将该公司“国有化”或“部分国有化”（这种措辞让人想起上世纪70年代的干预主义），但英国政府对旨在拯救该公司的大力度干预持开放态度。

This could involve direct involvement of some sort, although would have to meet EU state aid rules.

这可能会涉及某种形式的直接干预，尽管前提是必须符合欧盟(EU)的国家援助规定。

One option is to provide backing for a workforce buyout of the business, which is losing about ￡1m a day at Port Talbot alone, the group’s biggest plant in South Wales.

其中一个选项是为员工收购该公司提供资金支持。目前，仅是塔尔伯特港(Port Talbot)的炼钢厂每天就亏损约100万英镑。塔尔伯特港炼钢厂是该公司在南威尔士的最大炼钢厂。

But a private sector sale is the preferred solution, not least because taking responsibility for the steel plants could leave taxpayers on the hook for large losses while provoking state aid concerns.

不过，将该公司卖给私营部门是首选解决方案，尤其是考虑到政府背上炼钢厂的相关责任可能会令纳税人蒙受巨额亏损并引发国家援助担忧。